For some reason, whenever I’m sick, I crave Cream of Tomato Soup. I also crave plain brown rice, in grain or pasta form, or a plain baked potato. DH endeared himself to me early on by mastering a simple, traditional cream of tomato soup recipe to make for me when I was sick and didn’t feel like cooking. But, since I’ve been limiting my dairy lately, when I ate something that didn’t agree with me yesterday, that night I didn’t quite want a creamy sauce with dairy. DH made me pasta, and then I experimented with some leftover Parm-Free Parm that I had in my fridge to create something that satisfied all urges for a cream of tomato soup. The important thing is to have enough margarine to add richness, enough tomato liquid to make it slightly “soupy” and to stir the Nutritional Yeast Based “parm” in so that it saturates the liquid and is no longer visible as yellow powder. Pine nuts add a lot- and if you have some, avocado cubes would be nice too. I didn’t test this out on my DH’s more conventional palate, but personally I thought this was a terrific Vegan creation that could compare nicely with a real cream of tomato soup. It’s also a very EASY recipe, especially if you have the Parm-Free Parm already made. You will have a lot left over, but you can use parm-free parm on pasta dishes, baked potatoes with margarine and maybe a touch of GF soy sauce, or even on rice, especially brown rice. This recipe is healthy, flavorful and even a bit decadent, depending on how much margarine you use.

Assemble ingredients and process in blender or food processor. Store in sealed container in refrigerator and use as desired. ——Combine pasta, stewed tomatoes AND liquid, 2 tbsp. margarine and seasonings in microwavable bowl. Heat for 1-2 minutes in the microwave. Stir in 1 tbsp of Parm-Free Parm and heat for another 30 seconds. Add rest of margarine and remaining Parm-Free-Parm, stir until tomato liquid turns salmon colored and looks as though milk has infused the juice (as if you had added milk that slightly separated, so an imperfect cream texture) Add any chopped herbs and pine nuts and taste. Add any additional Parm-Free Parm or margarine until you are satisfied by the flavor. Garnish with chopped avocado and enjoy.

Hi Karen- It really depends on your taste as far as pasta goes. I happened to use Trader Joe’s brown rice penne for this recipe, but you could use any brand. I prefer Tinkyada or Trader Joe’s brown rice pasta for most things, but you could also try white rice or even corn pasta if you like that. (I’m not a big fan of corn pasta myself.) Happy cooking!
-Sea

Hi Sea! I have a quick question. In Joanne’s nutritional yeast cookbook, do her dairy-free recipes rely on nuts (like the Parmesan) or tofu, beans? I’d like to experiment more with nutritional yeast for “cheese” and sauces; but so many of the recipes I’ve seen on-line rely on other problematic – for me – ingredients. Thanks for your time. xoxo Karina

Thanks Sea, for the detailed answer. You are a sweetheart. :) With no dairy-soy-nuts-legumes-seeds-brown rice-lemon-mustard-ginger etc. I think making a cheese sub may be next to impossible. Perhaps a sauce that tastes “cheesy” with the nutriitonal yeast flakes and white rice (or hemp?) milk, some garlic and herbs… I imagine it’ll end up more like a white sauce than a cheese sauce, but in the scheme of things, that’s okay. ;) And I agree about the tahini (it’s strong tasting – and also pro-inflammatory, so I only use a little now and then for stir-fry). Hugs Back Atcha, Karina

[...] A few days ago the topic of nutritional yeast in un-cheese recipes came up. Joanne Stepaniak is the reigning queen of vegan cheese substitute recipes, and has many excellent cookbooks, including her The Nutritional Yeast Cookbook: Recipes Using Red Star Vegetarian Support Formula, The Uncheese Cookbook: Creating Amazing Dairy-Free Cheese Substitutes and Classic “Uncheese” Dishes, Vegan Deli,Vegan Vittles: Recipes Inspired by the Critters of Farm Sanctuary. However, the question was- how useful are these cookbooks for someone with multiple allergies? First of course, you have to screen the books for gluten- there are a few recipes with gluten, but overall these books are an excellent resource for the gluten free, lactose intolerant chef. If you are intolerant to soy, a few more recipes have to be screened out, still leaving a decent amount of recipes based on nuts, oats (I use quinoa) and nutritional yeast. But, if you happen to be allergic to gluten, most nuts, soy, and lemon juices, probably your best bet is to scour the internet for nutritional yeast based recipes and start experimenting. [...]

[...] cereal, pine nuts on pasta with margarine and nutritional yeast for an easy dairy-free meal OR pasta with a dairy-free almond parmesan, ground sesame seeds on spinach, peanuts used in a nut sauce for spring rolls or pasta, or pecans [...]